Feminist Technology

by Layne, Linda L.; Vostral, Sharra Louise; Boyer, Kate

• ISBN13: 9780252077203
• ISBN10: 0252077202
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-05-04
• Publisher: Univ of Illinois Pr

Summary

Is there such a thing as a "feminist technology"? If so, what makes a technology feminist? Is it in the design process, in the thing itself, in the way it is marketed, or in the way it is used by women (or by men)? In this collection, feminist scholars trained in diverse fields consider these questions by examining a range of products, tools, and technologies that were specifically designed for and marketed to women. Evaluating the claims that such products are liberating for women, the contributors focus on case studies of menstrual-suppressing birth control pills, home pregnancy tests, tampons, breast pumps, Norplant, anti-fertility vaccines, and microbicides. In examining these various products, this volume explores ways of actively intervening to develop better tools for designing, promoting, and evaluating feminist technologies. Recognizing the different needs and desires of women and acknowledging the multiplicity of feminist approaches,Feminist Technologiesoffers a sustained debate on existing and emergent technologies that share the goal of improving women's lives. Contributors are Jennifer Aengst, Maia Boswell-Penc, Kate Boyer, Frances Bronet, Shirley Gorenstein, Anita Hardon, Deborah G. Johnson, Linda L. Layne, Deana McDonagh, and Sharra L. Vostral.

Author Biography

Linda L. Layne is the Hale Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences and a professor of anthropology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Sharra L. Vostral is an associate professor of Gender and Women's Studies and History at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Kate Boyer is a lecturer in the School of Geography at the University of Southampton.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
Sorting Out the Question of Feminist Technology	p. 36
The Need to Bleed? A Feminist Technology Assessment of Menstrual-Suppressing Birth Control Pills	p. 55
Why the Home Pregnancy Test Isn't the Feminist Technology It's Cracked Up to Be and How to Make It Better	p. 89
Breast Pumps: A Feminist Technology, or (yet) "More Work for Mother"?	p. 119
Tampons: Re-Scripting Technologies as Feminist	p. 136
From Subaltern Alignment to Constructive Mediation: Modes of Feminist Engagement in the Design of Reproductive Technologies	p. 154
Teaching Feminist Technology Design	p. 179
A Feminist Inventor's Studio	p. 197
What We Now Know about Feminist Technologies	p. 203
Contributors	p. 215
Index	p. 219
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.